Ten Game Temp Check: Rangers’ Rocky Start Brings More Questions Than Answers
The Rangers’ first ten games have been a roller coaster of strong play, bad luck, and frustrating results. Here’s where things stand in our debut Ten Game Temp Check.
Welcome to Ten Game Temp Check, a new eight part series that will take a closer look at the New York Rangers’ latest ten game stretch, diving deeper into their performance. Topics that will be covered will include: what went well, who stood out, what went wrong, the highs, the lows, the expectations moving forward, and, of course, a current temperature check on the team overall.
With the season well underway, the Rangers are officially ten games into the season with a record of 3-5-2. This leaves them eighth in the Metropolitan Division, last in the Eastern Conference and 28th in the league overall. Here’s how those first 10 games panned out:
- 3-0 Loss vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
- 4-0 Win @ Buffalo Sabres
- 6-1 Win @ Pittsburgh Penguins
- 1-0 Loss Vs. Washington Capitals
- 2-0 Loss Vs. Edmonton Oilers
- 2-1 OT Loss @ Toronto Maple Leafs
- 4-3 Win @ Montreal Canadiens
- 3-1 Loss Vs. Minnesota Wild
- 6-5 OT Loss Vs. San Jose Sharks
- 5-1 Loss @ Calgary Flames
Realistically, the floor for what the Rangers should have been able to accomplish in this stretch was a record of 6-4. Their schedule to start the season was pretty weak, with the first three games coming against Buffalo and Pittsburgh, two teams that are not expected to be competitive this season. From there, the schedule got much tougher with stronger opponents, back-to-backs, and considerable travel, but finished out with a couple of match-ups that, in theory, favored the Rangers. That being said, the fact that these ten games have gone the way they have is less than ideal, to say the least.
Looking at it from the start of the season, opening night should have been a win and they should have managed to keep the wins coming throughout their first road trip of the season. If they split the back-to-back, fine. Losing one of the Edmonton and Toronto games would be fine. And then dropping two of their last four would have been acceptable.
Of course things never go according to plan, and no one could have anticipated the Rangers making NHL history, going scoreless through their first three home games of the season. More on that for what went wrong but first, let's tackle what went well for the team.
